Since the development of chemical neuroanatomical tools in the 1960s, a tremendous wealth of information has been generated on the anatomical components of the serotonergic system, at the microscopic level in the brain including the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The PFC receives a widespread distribution of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) terminals from the median and dorsal raphe nuclei. 5-HT receptors were first visualized using radioligand autoradiography in the late 1980s and early 1990s and showed, in contrast to 5-HT innervation, a differential distribution of binding sites associated with different 5-HT receptor subtypes. Due to the cloning of the different 5-HT receptor subtype genes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was possible, using in situ hybridization histochemistry, to localize cells expressing mRNA for these receptors. Double in situ hybridization histochemistry and immunohistochemistry allowed for the chemical characterization of the phenotype of cells expressing 5-HT receptors. Tract tracing technology allowed a detailed cartography of the neuronal connections of PFC and other brain areas. Based on these data, maps have been constructed that reflect our current understanding of the different circuits where 5-HT receptors can modulate the electrophysiological, pharmacological, and behavioral functions of the PFC. We will review current knowledge regarding the cellular localization of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors in mammalian PFC and their possible functions in the neuronal circuits of the PFC. We will discuss data generated in our laboratory as well as in others, focusing on localization in the pyramidal and GABAergic neuronal cell populations in different mammalian species using molecular neuroanatomy and on the connections with other brain regions.
Keywords: Cytoarchitecture; GABAergic cells; neuronal circuits; pyramidal cells.